What a time to start having insomnia! I was in my second year of post graduate school and it was the beginning of final exams. Not being able to sleep at night only added to my stress levels. That of course made relaxing enough to get a good nights rest almost impossible.

Fortunately, I made it through my exams with passing marks in each course. But little did I know at the time, that what had happened to me was a part of Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome.

What is Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome?

​Adrenal fatigue syndrome (aka adrenal gland fatigue, or adrenal exhaustion) is a serious health problem that can disrupt your ability to cope and function properly. It's the result of overworked and over stressed adrenal glands.

The adrenal glands are two small triangular shaped glands that sit on top of each of our kidneys. They help our bodies to cope with all kinds of stress - mental, emotional, physical, psychological, etc. We need them to work properly to be at a level where we can cope well with the stressful events that are part of our lives.

A long and stressful school year weakened my adrenal glands, and when the additional stress of final exams came, they were not able to function at full capacity. This is known as hypoadrenia.

​Dr. James L. Wilson, author of Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome refers to adrenal fatigue as an "invisible epidemic." It's not talked about very much by the mainstream medical community even though it IS a real health concern.

​He estimates that up to 80% of adult Americans suffer from some form of adrenal fatigue at some point in their lives. That is serious! Unfortunately, adrenal fatigue is becoming more and more common in our stressed out modern day society.

Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome

The main symptom of adrenal fatigue syndrome is not surprisingly, fatigue. But fatigue is just one of many things that can happen. Here are some others:

Muscle aches

Feeling tired and un-refreshed in the morning, making getting out of bed quite the challenge

Feeling tired during the day even after sleeping well the night before

Making it through each day is tough because that constant feeling of tiredness never seems to go away

Lacking energy to do things, even those activities that would normally be enjoyable

Everything (even the simple things) seem to take so much effort and energy

Handling stress becomes more and more difficult

Irritability

Craving salt/salty foods

Recovery time from illnesses is longer than normal

It's hard to feel happy or excited about anything anymore

Feeling light headed after standing up quickly

Feeling a need to rely heavily on coffee or other caffeinated drinks to get through the day

Making even simple decisions is a challenge

Feeling spaced out and finding it difficult to concentrate

Feeling more fearful and anxious about everything

Experiencing symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), e.g., difficulty concentrating or feeling irritable after skipping meals or eating meals later than the usual time

Insomnia or difficulty sleeping at night

The number and severity of symptoms a person will experience all depends on just how depleted those poor adrenal glands are.

Dr. James L. Wilson says that if you've got 3 or more of these adrenal fatigue symptoms, then your adrenals may be exhausted. He's got a a comprehensive adrenal fatigue questionnaire in the book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. The book also contains some simple self-help tests that confirmed my adrenal fatigue.

For me, that was enough. But for anyone who wants a lab test comfirmation, there is a list of some tests a medical doctor can order.

If you've got any symptoms of adrenal fatigue, why not start doing something about it now? Please don't be like me and allow yourself to get burned out again and again. It can take years to recover if you let it go. But if you do something about it early, it's easier to reverse.

Causes of Adrenal Fatigue

Our adrenal glands were designed to help us cope with stress. In response to stress, they secrete adrenalin and other hormones that allow our bodies to respond and cope.

If we experience an extreme amount of stress that exceeds the capacity of our adrenal glands to cope and respond they can become fatigued. The extreme stress can be in the form of a major traumatic life event. Or it can be a series of one stressful event after another. It can even be ongoing stress that never seems to end.

Here are some other things that can lead to the development of adrenal fatigue syndrome.

Lack of exercise

Lack of sleep

Poor nutrition

Relying on caffeinated beverages/chocolate to get you through the day

Working rotating shifts and random hours

Being constantly on the go

Lack of real friends or a good social support system

Toxic relationships

Feeling helpless and hopeless in your situation

Chronic illness

Working in a toxic environment (it could be emotional or physical)

In my case, it had been a very heavy and stressful school year. I really liked the program I was in, but there were two areas in it that conflicted with my religious convictions. So on top of the study time involved, I was faced that year with a major decision about whether to continue or not.

With all of that continued stress, my adrenal glands got overloaded and depleted. They were not able to secrete their normal levels of adrenal hormones, especially cortisol. My adrenals did not get a chance to recover and by exam time they were exhausted.

We all have different tolerance levels for stress. Some people can handle large amounts of stress and still thrive. Others can only take stress in small doses. We're all different and that's perfectly okay.

It's important for us to be aware of our ability to handle stress and to keep that in mind when making future plans or when people ask us to take on projects.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If any of this sounds familiar, it's time to do something about it.

Fortunately, there is a lot we can do to start feeling better and even better, to prevent adrenal fatigue in the first place.

In part two, I will talk about the natural remedies I am using to recover my adrenal glands and live life more fully.

For more detailed information about Adrenal Fatigue, the book I mentioned in the beginning of this article - Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson is a good one to read.

As I mentioned in a previous post about grains, many people are going grain-free these days.

However, the truth of the matter is that grains are part of the diet our loving Creator gave us in the beginning. Rest assured that He didn't make a mistake in giving them to us. His design is perfect!

A friend called the other day wanting to know what she should do with some fenugreek seeds she had sitting around. Well, as it turns out, my family and I happen to use fenugreek seeds pretty often.

Fenugreek is one of those really valuable herbs with multiple uses and benefits. It's too much to try to remember all at once, so I'm writing it all down. It's definitely worth the effort so that everyone can have a handy reference.

​But before I get started on the things I have learned, here is what fenugreek seeds look like. You'd never guess from their appearance, but they are part of the legume family!

I've been keeping things pretty simple when it comes to my meals. For months I've been enjoying my sprouted grains whole as cereals mixed with fresh and dried fruit. Bananas and raisins, or pears and dates or dried apricots as shown below. The possibilities are endless!

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Copyright 2017This website and blog is where I share my personal experiences as I go back to our Creator's original plan for eating and living as found in that greatest of all textbooks, the Bible. It is for information and educational purposes only, and in no way should be taken as medical advice. For the diagnosis or treatment of disease and for medical advice, see your doctor or qualified healthcare practitioner. To come into harmony with God's true principles and methods for health, see the Great Physician.

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Psalm 103:1-3

If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15: 26